A Tasty Frittata Recipe

I love the color you get from the pink potatoes, but I recognize not everyone has access to pink-fleshed potatoes. Another way to get some pink in your frittata still using complimentary flavors is to use a few chopped red onions.

Ingredients:

Cilantro Chile Sauce

2 large cloves garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 small bunch cilantro

1 green (serrano) chile, seeds removed

2 pinches ground cumin

a couple big pinches of salt

Frittata

6 large organic eggs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

3 small potatoes, very very thinly sliced

1/2 cup yellow zucchini or cauliflower,1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

couple pinches of salt

Preheat your oven to 450F degrees. Make the cilantro chile sauce by pureeing the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, cilantro, chile, cumin, and salt until very smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs with a small pinch of salt. Set aside. In a (small) 8 1/2-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat add the olive oil, onion, and another pinch of salt. Saute, stirring constantly, until the onion starts to brown, 5 - 7 minutes. Add the potatoes and zucchini (or cauliflower), cover, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Slide everything out of the skillet onto a plate and set aside.

Turn down the heat a bit. Using the same skillet, add the eggs and cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are just set and there isn't a lot of liquid running around the pan. To facilitate this, run a spatula underneath the sides of the frittata and tilt the pan so the uncooked eggs run to the underside and cook. Drizzle the eggs with a few tablespoons of the cilantro chile sauce, now sprinkle the potato onion mixture over the top.

Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 9 minutes, or until well set and puffy. Add a crumble of goat cheese and the pumpkin seeds across the top of the frittata in the final 2 minutes of baking. Remove from oven (be careful the handle is hot!), cut into wedges and serve.

Serves 2 to 4.

Skinny Omelette

I didn't mention it up above, but ricotta spiked with lemon zest and some herbs would be a perfect, easily spreadable slather for this recipe as well.

Ingredients:

2 large (preferably organic) eggs

a tiny pinch of fine grain sea salt

a few tablespoons of chopped chives

a dollop of pesto

a bit of goat cheese or feta

a small handful of mixed salad greens

Use a fork to beat the eggs and salt in a small bowl. Beat well, until the eggs are mostly uniform in color - they seem to run around the pan more evenly when there aren't huge patches of yolk vs. whites.

In your largest non-stick skillet over medium heat (this is one of the few occasions I actually use non-stick) pour the egg mixture and give it a good swirl so that they spread out thinly across the entire pan. Alternately, you can use a crepe pan or crepe maker - this works beautifully as well. Sprinkle the eggs with some of the chives and let them set, this happens quickly depending on the heat of your pan - 15 seconds to one minute. Run a spatula underneath the omelette and slide it out of the pan (flat) onto a countertop, large cutting board or Silpat-line cookie sheet. Do this with confidence (or practice). Spread the pesto across the surface of the omelette (if you have a thick pesto, thin it a bit with water to make it easily spreadable), and then sprinkle with the cheese and salad greens. Starting with one end, roll the omelette away from you. Cut in half on a deep diagonal. Season with a bit more salt if needed and serve garnished with a few chopped chives.

Serves one or two.

Egg Salad Sandwich

I've realized that 90% of the challenge here is properly boiling the egg. You need to boil it so the center sets yet stays moist. You also need to avoid the green/grey ring thing that surrounds the yolk in many hard boiled eggs. I use the same technique here that I learned camping with a hardcore egg enthusiast. It has worked for me flawlessly ever since. The key is to avoid over cooking, and to dunk the eggs in a bowl of icy water to stop the cooking after you remove them from the hot water. I always use good quality eggs - but something to keep in mind, the fresher they are, the harder they are to peel after boiling.

Ingredients:

6 large eggs

1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or Greek yogurt)

Salt and pepper

A tiny squeeze of lemon juice

2 stalks celery, washed and chopped

1/2 bunch chives, chopped

2 small handfuls of lettuce

8 slices of whole grain bread, toasted

Place the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water by a 1/2-inch or so. Bring to a gentle boil. Now turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for exactly seven minutes. Have a big bowl of ice water ready and when the eggs are done cooking place them in the ice bath for three minutes or so - long enough to stop the cooking. Crack and peel each egg, place in a medium mixing bowl. Add the mayonnaise, a couple generous pinches of salt and pepper, now mash with a fork. Don't overdo it, you want the egg mixture to have some texture. If you need to add a bit more mayo to moisten up the mixture a bit, go for it a bit at a time.
Stir in the celery and chives. Taste, and adjust the seasoning - adding more salt and pepper if needed.

To assemble each egg salad sandwich: place a bit of lettuce on a piece of toast, top with the egg salad mixture, and finish by creating a sandwich with a second piece of toast.

Make 4 sandwiches.

Curried Egg Salad

Use any type of onion you like here, I've done this version of egg salad using yellow, white, and in this version I had a tiny red one on hand, so I grabbed for that.

Ingredients:

5 good quality eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (your favorite)

3 tablespoons plain yogurt

2 big pinches of salt

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/2 medium apple, chopped

1/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1 small bunch of chives, minced

First off, you need to boil the eggs properly (the key to good egg salad!). Place the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water by a 1/2-inch or so. Bring to a gentle boil. Now turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for exactly seven minutes. Have a big bowl of ice water ready and when the eggs are done cooking and place them in the ice bath for three minutes or so - long enough to stop the cooking.

While the eggs are boiling and cooling, combine the yogurt, curry powder and salt in a tiny bowl. Set aside.

Crack and peel each egg, and place in a medium mixing bowl. Add the curried yogurt, onions, apple, pecans, and chives. Now mash with a fork. Don't overdo it, you want the egg mixture to have some texture. If you need to add a bit more plain yogurt to moisten up the mixture a bit, go for it a bit at a time. taste and add more salt if needed. Enjoy as-is, or served wrapped in lettuce or between two slices of good, toasted bread.

Serves 3-4

Baked Egg

Ingredients:

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 big pinches ground cumin

2 big pinches chili flakes

2 big pinches smoked paprika

2 big pinches fine sea salt

1 cup spring (or regular) onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

2 pieces of pita bread, cut into quarters

6 large organic eggs

Garnish

finely chopped tomatoes

chile flakes

cilantro (optional)

Special equipment

standard 12 muffin tin

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the cumin, chile flakes, paprika, salt, onion, and garlic. Cook until onions soften, just a minute or two. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes soften up a bit, another two or three minutes. Set aside.

Take six pieces (quarters) of the pita bread, gently open each of them and tuck them into the muffin tin - every other slot. If the pita splits, no worries, just criss-cross the bread into a nest or tart shell of sorts so there is coverage across the bottom so the egg and filling won't run out.

Spoon a bit of the tomato filling into each pita cup, dividing it amongst the six cups. Now crack a single egg into each pita cup. You don't want the cups to overflow, hold back a bit of the egg white if you need to. Also, you don't want the egg yolk to jet up toward the sky, try to ensure it is level with the whites or the yolks can dry out while baking.

Carefully place in the oven (racks in the center) and bake for about 15 minutes. Until the whites have set and become opaque. Serve hot garnished with a sprinkling of chopped tomatoes, chile flakes, and/or a bit cilantro.

Makes six egg cups.

Larousse Gastronomique Sweet Crepe

Be sure to read all the tips up above as well, they will help you with many of the little things I had to learn the hard way.

It was formerly the custom to add 2-3 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar to the batter, in addition to the vanilla-flavoured sugar. Today the crepes are usually sprinkled with sugar when cooked, according to individual tastes.

A more basic (but very similar) version of this recipe that also worked great was this one - but again, I would go through the extra step of straining the batter before cooking.

Sun-dried Tomato Cottage Cheese Muffin

You can use the flour of your choice in this recipe. The original recipe calls for soy flour (great for people looking for a gluten-free option), I use white whole wheat flour - unbleached all-purpose flour will work as well. To grind the almonds I gave them a whirl in my food processor. You are looking for a flour-like consistency - be sure to stop short of turning them into an almond paste.

Put the cottage cheese into a bowl with all but 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, water, and eggs, and season with salt, then mix all together.

Spoon the mixture into the muffing cups 3/4 full, scatter with the remaining Parmesan, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until set, risen, and golden brown. Serve as hot or at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Follow package directions to lay the pie crust in a glass 9” pie pan. In a small skillet, saute green pepper, red pepper, and red onion in olive oil until tender and onion is slightly translucent. Remove vegetables from skillet and set aside. In the same skillet, brown and crumble bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Start assembling the layers by placing the crumbled bacon on the unbaked pie shell. Layer the shredded mozzarella cheese over the bacon followed by the sauteed vegetables. Layer the sun-dried tomatoes over the vegetables. In a medium size bowl, crack the six eggs and whisk in the milk until combined thoroughly. Pour over the tomatoes and vegetables. Place the Italian parsley over the egg mixture. Sprinkle the croutons over the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 6.

Caramel Cream Cheese Custard (Flan de Queso)

Every panaderia (bakery) in Puerto Rico has many flavors of flan, from vanilla to guava. Reduced-fat cream cheese gives this version a rich, comforting texture.

Active Time:

15 minutes

Total Time:

6 1/4 hours (including 5 hours cooling & chilling)

Ease of Preparation:

Easy

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened

8 large eggs

1 14-ounce can nonfat or low-fat sweetened condensed milk

1 12-ounce can nonfat or low-fat evaporated milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cook sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, gently swirling the pan (do not stir), until the mixture turns golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Immediately, pour the caramel carefully into a 9-inch round metal cake pan. If it stiffens before it completely covers the bottom of the pan, warm the pan in the oven, then swirl to cover the bottom.

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl with a mixer at medium-high speed until soft. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides. Add condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla; mix until combined. Carefully pour into the prepared pan. (You may hear some cracking; the pan will be very full.)

Place the cake pan in a larger pan and pour enough hot water around it to come 1 inch up the sides. Bake until golden and set at the edges but still wobbly at the center, about 1 hour. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean.

Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the flan onto a plate.